Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt

site. A head of Queen TIYE(1), fashioned out of wood,
glass, and gesso, was discovered there. This head pro-
vides a remarkably individualistic portrait.

Kom Ombo A site south of EDFUon the Nile that
served as the cultic center for the deities HORUSthe Elder
and SOBEK, Kom Ombo was also a major center of Egyp-
tian TRADE with the Red Sea and Nubian (modern
Sudanese) cultures. Eighteenth Dynasty (1550–1307

B.C.E.) structures made Kom Ombo important, but there

were also settlements from the Paleolithic Period in the

area.

The temple of Haroeris (HORUS) and SOBEKwas a

double structure, with identical sections, the northern

one for Haroeris and the southern one for Sobek. There

was also a shrine to HATHORon the site. The complex was

dedicated as well to KHONS(1). Tasenetnofret, an obscure

goddess called “the Good Sister,” and Pnebtawy, called

206 Kom Ombo

0 30 Meters

(^0) 100 Feet

N

Stone

Mud-brick enclosure

inner enclosure wall

outer enclosure wall

twin sanctuaries

inner corridor

outer corridor

offering hall

inner hypostyle hall

outer hypostyle hall

courtyard

river

shrine of

Hathor

gate of Ptolemy XII

Auletes

birth house

well

Temple of Sobek and Heroeris (Horus) at Kom Ombo